Local Moderates Could Accept SD-Support

Local representatives of the Prime Minister's conservative party are are open to being supported by the xenophobic right-wing Sweden Democrats (SD) in the southern region of Skåne.

"We in Skåne are more prepared to speak to the Sweden Democrats than the party nationally," Staffan Appelros, MP for the conservative party The Moderates told the daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet.

The Sweden Democrats have traditionally had more electoral support in southern Sweden than elsewhere in the country and polls show that, in the past, they have been taking votes from the Moderates.

In the interview with Sydsvenska Dagbladet, Appelros said that he felt the party had a duty towards the voters not to turn the nose up at the Sweden Democrats if it meant that their support enables the centre-right parties to take over from the red-green coalition that currently are in power in Malmö.

Appelros later clarified that he did not intend any formal co-operation with the right-wing party, but that "we should not turn our noses up and say that we resign the day they support our proposals. We cannot say that we will not accept their support in any single issue," Appelros told TT.

Currently, the red-green coalition has 7 out of the 13 seats in the local council in Malmö. The centre-right parties have 5 seats. The Sweden Democrats has 1 seat.

Earlier this autumn, there was a heated debate as to whether the centre-right government coalition would accept the support of the Sweden Democrats, in order to keep the red-green coalition out of power. All four government parties said they would rather co-operate with the Green Party. The Green Party however rejected their invitation, since it is hoping to form a coalition with the Social Democrats and the Left party.

In this discussion, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said that his Government would not cooperate with the Sweden Democrats. "We will not make ourselves dependant of the Sweden Democrats, it is a party that has been severely brutalised by its "us and them"-way of thinking. It would be impossible to cooperate with such a party," Reinfeldt told the news agency TT.